No Fuss Orange Zest at All Times

Being in the tropics, I do find that handling certain ingredients isn't that easy, such as orange zest or lemon zest. I have tried grating it with a zester before, but the extreme humidity made it wet and sticky, and ended up getting stuck in the holes of the zester. Absolute nightmare! 

I have then decided to do it my very different way, which is to thinly slice the zest off the skin of an orange whenever I'm having one, put them in a box and keep the box in the freezer immediately. Then when I have the time, or when I have accumulated quite a bit in the box, I will chop it really finely, and put it back in the freezer. 

Zest thinly sliced off oranges

This way, I will have ample supply whenever I need some for baking, cooking, or even to add to my tea brewing. But I will have to make sure that I don't leave the zest out of the freezer for too long while chopping it, as it will get wet quite quickly in this hot and humid weather. And once the chopped zest is back in the box and in the freezer, I will need to give the box a few shakes every now and again during the first hour. This is to prevent it from becoming large frozen lumps in the box.

Finely chopped orange zest kept fresh in the freezer